Wilbraham officer becomes part of ICAC Task Force

Date: 11/21/2013

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

WILBRAHAM – Wilbraham Police Investigator Jeffrey Rudinski says he is but “a very small piece of a very big puzzle,” but for residents of Wilbraham, especially those with children, he is a very important piece.

Along with the many educational benefits and entertainment the Internet can offer children, it also has its share of dangers and that’s why Rudinski was recently trained to become part of a statewide initiative, known as the Massachusetts Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

Rudinski, who was previously a school resource officer for the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District, explained his interest in the subject first began when he was working with the schools and saw how technologically involved the students were.

“The district paid for me to take a computer forensics training course and I really garnered an interest in it from that and kind of self-taught to know as much as I could,” he said. “I started teaching computer classes to educate the kids on Internet safety, especially when using things such as Instagram, which are really popular among kids right now.”

When Rudinski learned of the opportunity to gain further training as part of the ICAC program, he spoke with Chief Roger Tucker, and then contacted the Massachusetts State Police to express his interest.

In September, he took part in an intensive weeklong training funded by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the Connecticut State Police Forensic Laboratory.

“The training had some of the best experts in the country on the subject,” Rudinski said. “They flew people in from Nevada, Missouri and California to teach us.”

Now a part of the statewide task force that operates with federal funding, part of Rudinski’s duties involve the investigation of Internet crimes. The task force also works closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) Cybertipline.

“The Massachusetts State Police are in charge of ICAC,” Rudinski explained. “If the State Police get a report of a crime in a certain area, they notify authorities in that jurisdiction so it can be investigated. In Wilbraham, I am now the person who does that.”

Rudinski explained that he could not go into detail regarding the task force’s practices so as to prevent those who are committing those crimes from learning their tactics and circumventing them.

In addition to investigating crimes that may have already taken place, Rudinski said a big part of his job is prevention.

“Every sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grader in Wilbraham is taught about Internet safety,” he said. “We’re in the last year of a grant that funds that training and it’s something the kids have really liked and responded to.”

Education of parents who might not even be aware of the technology available to their children is also a big part of the equation, Rudinski said. In the past, parental training has been offered and he hopes to be able to do so again.

“Frankly the kids are a lot smarter than the parents when it comes to this kind of stuff because they have been growing up with it,” he said. “We as adults have to be sure to keep up.”

Residents with concerns regarding their children’s Internet safety can contact Rudinski at the Wilbraham Police Department at 596-3837 or the Massachusetts ICAC Task Force at 978-451-3550. Technology-based crimes against children can also be reported via the NCMEC Cybertipline at www.cybertipline.org.